US House narrowly passes $39B in cuts to food stamps

6:14 PM,
Sep. 19, 2013

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks vote on the House floor on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013 in Washington. House Republican leaders scrambled Thursday to line up support in advance of a late-afternoon vote on legislation that would cut nearly $4 billion a year from the food stamp program, now used by 1 in 7 Americans. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Written by

Christopher Doering

House Republican lawmakers voted Thursday to slash food stamp spending by $39 billion during the next decade, setting up a showdown with Democrats over the popular program used by nearly 48 million low-income Americans.

The House voted 217-210 to cut food stamps by nearly twice the amount that was rejected by the chamber in June and far more than a Senate measure passed earlier this year that would trim about $4.5 billion. The bill failed to draw the support of a single Democrat, many of whom have said the steep cuts would erode a key safety net depended on by families with children, seniors, ...